Toy motorcycle adjustably tethered to a pylon

ABSTRACT

A two-wheeled toy vehicle including a wheel drive motor and capable of maintaining an upright position during operation without the assistance of a third wheel or the like. The exemplary embodiment is configured in the form of a motorcycle and includes an electric drive motor and batteries therefor located below the axis of rotation of the wheels to provide the vehicle with an extremely low center of gravity thereby enhancing its stability during operation. The vehicle can be operated as a free running vehicle or, in the alternative, can be provided with a tether of variable length and with a variable speed control, both of which can be controlled by a user during operation of the vehicle.

" nited States Patent [1 Terzian et al.

I [451 July 9, 1974' TOY MOTORCYCLE ADJUSTABLY TETHERED TO A PYLON [22] Filed: July 3, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 268,591

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 113,300, Feb. 8, 1971, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl. 272/31 R, 46/243 P [51] Int. Cl. A63h 17/38, A63h 30/00 [58] Field of Search 272/31 A, 31 B, 31 R;

46/77, 210, 243 LV, 243 AV, 243 M, 243 P, 243 S, 243 E, 74 R, 75, 76 R, 76 A, l C, 228

3,492,758 2/1970 Sato 46/243 LV 3,517,458 6/1970 Sato 46/243 LV 3,579,905 5/1971 Radford 46/244 R 3,596,399 8/1971 Barbee 46/228 3,690,626 10/1954 Gay et a1. 46/243 PX FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 651,439 4/1951 Great Britain 46/210 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Arnold W. Kramer Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Coffee and Sweeney ABSTRACT A two-wheeled toy vehicle including a wheel drive motor and capable of maintaining an upright position during operation without the assistance of a third wheel or the like. The exemplary embodiment is configured in the form of a motorcycle and includes an electric drive motor and batteries therefor located below the axis of rotation of the wheels to provide the vehicle with an extremely low center of gravity thereby enhancing its stability during operation. The vehicle can be operated as a free running vehicle or, in the alternative, can be provided with a tether of variable length and with a variable speed control, both of which can be controlled by a user during operation of the vehicle.

3 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUL 91914 3.822880 sum 1 0F 5 I R257 3 10 Y 1 PATENTEDJUL 91914 SHEEI 2 [IF 5 PATENTEDJUL 91974 SHEET 3 0F 5 PAIENTEUJUL 919M 3.822880 SHEET h [if 5 TOY MOTORCYCLE ADJUSTABLY TO A PYLON This is a division of application Ser. No. 113,300, filed Feb. 8, 1971, and now Pat. No. 3,708,913.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principal object of the invention is to provide a new and improved two-wheeled toy vehicle, and more particularly, one that may be operated by means of a drive motor mounted on the vehicle itself and which does not require an unrealistic third wheel or ground engaging skid to maintain stability during operation.

The exemplary embodiment of the invention achieves the foregoing object by means of a construction wherein an electric drive motor and the batteries therefor are nestled as low as possible on the vehicle frame with the batteries being lowermost and disposed on opposite sides of the frame to provide an extremely low center of gravity. To further assist stability, the peripheral surface of the wheels is generally cylindrical with little or no curvature adjacent the edges.

A modified embodiment of the invention includes a construction wherein the batteries are located rearwardly of the rear wheel so that the center of gravity of the vehicle is such that the torque applied to the rear wheel by the electric motor will cause the vehicle to do a wheel stand or so-called wheelie.

One embodiment of the invention additionally contemplates the use of an external power source coupled with a tether extending from a pylon. With the external source, a speed control system is employed along with a variable length tether which may be controlled by a user of the device so that the path and speed of the vehicle as it moves about the pylon may be selectively changed as desired.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle made according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section taken approximately along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the first embodiment of the vehicle;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a portion of the vehicle illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a tether system for the vehicle;

FIG. 10 is a horizontal section of a portion of the tether system;

FIG. 11 is a vertical section taken approximately along the line ll-l.l of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the tether system;

FIG. 13 is a vertical section of a speed control employed with the tether system;

FIG. 14 is a horizontal section taken approximately along the line 14-14 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a vertical section of a pylon used in the tether system;

FIG. 16 is a horizontal section of the pylon illustrated I in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is another horizontal section of the pylon illustrated in FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a vertical section of a lap counter associated with the pylon employed in the tether system;

FIG. 19 is a horizontal section of the lap counter; and

FIG. 20 is a sectional view of a jack employed in the tether system for providing the vehicle with power from an external source.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a two-wheeled vehicle made according to the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 36 and is seen to comprise a toy motorcycle having a front wheel 50 mounted on an axle 52 received in a fork 54. Also provided is a rear wheel 56 mounted on an axle 58 which in turn is received in apertures 60 in rearwardly extending arms 62 of a mounting frame, generally designated 64 (FIG. 5). The wheels 50 and 56 constitute the sole surface engaging elements of the vehicle and in order to provide stability, are generally cylindrical in shape, that is, with small radius corners 66 as best seen in FIG. 4.

The rear wheel 56 is driven and includes an integrally formed spur gear 68 on one side thereof. The spur gear 68 is in engagement with a combination spur and crown gear 70 pivotally mounted on a pin 72 which is received in apertures 74 in the frame 64. The crown gear portion of the combination gear 70 is in turn meshed with a small spur gear 76 mounted on the output shaft 78 of the electrical motor 80. The motor 80 is received in a generally cylindrical recess defined by facing cavities 82 'at the lowermost end of a pair of upwardly extending arms 84 on the frame 64 at a location generally below the axles 52 and 58.

Returning to the combination gear 70, the hub of the same mounts a radially extending stub 86 which is adapted to engage a spring 88 once during each revolution of the gear 70. The spring 88 is mounted on the underside of a plastic sounding member 90 by means of a rivet 92 and the sounding member 90 is disposed within a molding 94 simulating the gas tank for the ve hicle. The gas tank 94 in conjunction with the sounding member 90 define a sounding chamber and as a result, as the gear 70 is rotated and the-stub 86 engages the spring 88, a staccato sound is generated to simulate the sound of a motorcycle engine.

The upwardly extending arms 84 have intumed upper ends 96 which are adapted to be received in grooves 98 in a block 100 to securely locate the same between the arms 84. The block 100 includes a bore 102 for pivotally receiving a screw 104 which may be threaded into an opening 106 in the bight of the fork 54. The head of the screw 104 is adapted to engage a handle grip assembly 108 having a downwardly open channel base 110. A bar 1 12 is adapted to be received in the channel and by means of screws 114 passed through spacing sleeves 116 and received in threaded apertures 118, is secured to the bight of the fork 54 so that pivotal motion imparted to the handlebar assembly 108 will be transmitted to the fork 54 to control the angular position of the front wheel 50.

The frame 64 further includes a pair of opposed upwardly extending arms 120 having outturned ends 122 for purposes to be seen and is completed by an upturned front end 124 having an aperture 126 for receiving a circular projection 128 on the forwardmost end of the motor 80. A complementary upturned element 130 may be struck out from the base of the frame 64 to engage the underside of a similar projection 132 on the motor 80 as best seen in FIG. 3.

The motorcycle further includes a decorative housing, generally designated 134, including an upper opening 136 through which the spring 88 may project to be periodically engaged by the stub 86 for noise making purposes. Additionally provided is another opening 138 through which the upwardly extending arms 84 may extend. Extending from the rear of the housing 134 is a fender simulating element 140 which includes a partial stiffening web 142 terminating at its front edge in a threaded boss 144. The boss 144 may receive a screw 146 for securing a seat 148 and the gas tank 94 to the housing 134.

The housing further includes, on opposite sides near the rear end thereof, horizontally elongated slots 147 for receiving the outturned ends 122 of the arms 120 to secure the-frame 64 in the housing 134. The housing 134 is also flanked by integrally formed partial battery housings 149 for receiving batteries 150. Also provided is a pan-like element 152 which serves to complete a housing for the batteries 150 in conjunction with the partial housings 149. The pan 152 includes a small slot 154 in its forwardmost end which is adapted to receive a forwardly projecting tab 156 on the housing 134 as well as space slots 158 on its rear side for receiving similar tabs not shown. The forewardmost end of the pan 152 further includes a pair of projections 160 (only one of which is shown) on either side thereof which are configured to be spaced a distance of about one-eighth inch above any supporting surface on which the vehicle may run.

Conductor elements 162, 164 and 166 may be suitably mounted within the pan 152 to electrically cooperate with the batteries 150 and conductors not shown to provide an electrical circuit to the motor 80 in conjunction with a jack element 168. In particular, the conductor 164 includes a ring 170 which is adapted to be aligned with an aperture 172 in the housing 134 to be electrically connected to one side of the jack 168. The jack 168 is retained by means of a nut 173 which is in electrical contact with the other side of the jack 168. The other side of the jack 168 is electrically isolated by means of insulating discs 174 from the housing 134 which, in the exemplary embodiment, is formed of metal and forms part of the power path for the motor 80.

A metal element 176 configured along the lines of a conventional kick starter for a motorcycle is pivotally mounted at 178 through the housing 134. As best seen in FIG. 6, the kick starter 176 may be pivoted to contact the nut 173 to complete a circuit to energize the motor 80. As will be seen, a jack 168 not only serves as part of an electrical switch for the motor and its internal power supply is provided by the batteries 150, but also provides a means for connection of the motorcycle to an external source of power and further permits connection of battery recharger to the motorcycle for recharging the batteries 50 if they are of the type that can be recharged.

The foregoing construction provides an extremely stable two-wheeled vehicle. In particular, the cylindrical formation of the wheels coupled with the low center of gravity resulting from the location of the relatively heavy elements as the batteries and the motor result in a construction wherein the vehicle may tip substantially to one side without the center of gravity moving outside of the point of contact of the wheels on the surface on which the vehicle is traveling. As a result, the downward force located at the center of gravity due to the weight of the vehicle will generally be sufficient to overcome any force, as for example, a centrifugal force tending to cause the vehicle to tip and will therefore return the vehicle to an upright position in most instances when it begins to tip.

Further, the opposite outboard disposition of the batteries tends to provide a balancing function not unlike that of the balance bar employed by a tightrope walker while the tabs operate to reacquire stability should the vehicle tip sufficiently that the force at the center of gravity thereof moves outside the point of contact on the surface on which the vehicle is traveling. For example, if the vehicle continues to tip, one of the tabs 160 will strike the vehicle supporting surface with a downward force. The resulting reaction of the supporting surface against the tab 160 will result in a force being applied to the latter in an upward direction sufficient to cause the vehicle to straighten upwardly sufficiently to move the center of gravity within the point of contact of the wheels on the surface. The effect is not unlike that of an object rebounding from the surface with which it has made contact and once the center of gravity has been moved inwardly with the point of contact with the surface, stability will again be maintained as mentioned previously.

Turning now to FIGS. 2, 7 and 8, another embodiment of the motorcycle will be described. In general, the same is similar to that just described with the exception that the housing 180 (roughly corresponding to the housing 134) is not flanked by partial battery housings such as those shown at 149 so that the various elements employed to provide a battery housing as the battery housing 134 may be omitted. The housing 180 also includes at its side a pair of L-shaped lugs 182 defining a wire receiving track 184 for a Y-shaped skid wire 186. In addition, the housing 180 terminates in rearwardly extending arms 188 having a length sufficient to extend beyond the rear wheel 56. The arms 188 may be interiorly dished as at 190 to house the frame arms 62 and at their end journal a roller 192 for purposes to be seen. The housing 180 is completed by eyelets 194 flanking both sides of the rear fender near the uppermost portion thereof and a pair of apertured lugs 196 v(only one of which is shown) near the innermost end of the arms 188.

The housing may receive a so-called banana seat 198 having an apertured boss 200 on its rear side. The banana seat 198 may be secured to the housing 180 by means of a screw, not shown, extending through an aperture 202 in the seat to be threadedly received in a boss 204 on the housing 180.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2, 7 and 8 is completed by a wire roll bar 206 which is adapted to bar 206 is greater than that of the seat 198 so that a battery pack 208 may be partially mounted thereon by means of a slot 210 in its upper end through which the roll bar 206 may extend. The lower end of the battery pack 208 includes an apertured tab 212 which may receive a screw 214 threadedly received in the boss 200 to securely mount the battery pack 208 in place. Suitable wiring, not shown, may be provided to connect the battery pack 208 to the motor.

As a result of the foregoing construction, it will be appreciated that the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2, 7 and 8 has its center of gravity located just ahead of the rear wheel and above theaxis of rotation thereof due to the weight of the batteries in the battery pack 208. Thus, when the motor is energized, the reactive torque imparted to the motorcycle itself coupled with the rearwardly located center of gravity will cause the motorcycle to do a wheel stand or so-called wheelie as illustrated in FIG. 7 at which time the stability will be maintained by the wire skid 186. If used without the skid 186, the roller 192 acts to limit pivotal movement of the vehicle about the rear wheel during a wheel stand.

Turning now to FIG. 9, a tether system for either one of the vehicles will be described. In particular, there is provided a pylon designated 220 from which a tether 222 may extend to be connected to the vehicle. A speed control device, generally designated 224, is also connected to a portion of the tether 222 which extends into a timing mechanism, generally designated 226 and passes through a shallow tunnel 228 to the pylon 220. By operation of an actuator 230 on the speed control device 224, power applied to the motor vehicle may be regulated so as to alter the vehicle speed. Furthermore, by manipulating the speed control device 224 in such a way as to shorten or increase the length of the tether- 222 extending therefrom to the timing mechanism 226, the radial position of the vehicle relative to the pylon may be changed.

Referring to FIGS. 9-12, the timing device 226 will now be described. In particular, the same includes a base 232 mounting upright housing 234 which in turn pivotally mounts a checkered flag 236. As best seen in FIG. 12, the flag 236 is mounted on a flagstaff 238 pivotally mounted to the housing 234 at 240. At the lower end of the flagstaff there are provided two outwardly projecting tabs 242 and 244. The housing 234 in turn mounts three lugs 246, 248 and 250 with the lugs 246 and 248 limiting pivotal movement of the flag 236 to about 90. The lug 250 is adapted to be engaged by a pointer 252 on a timer control knob 254 which is operatively associated with the timing mechanism as will be seen.

As best seen in FIG. 10, the rear side of the housing 234 includes an aperture 256 through which the tether 222 may enter the same to freely pass therethrough into the base 232 and through an opening 258 through the tunnel 228 to the pylon 220. Also passing through the tunnel 228 are electrical'conductors 260 which extend to contacts of a cam operated switch 262.

Mounted within the housing 234 in any suitable manner is a conventional spring motor 264 which serves as the timing mechanism. The same includes a main control shaft 266 which mounts the knob 254 on one end thereof and a cam 268 on the other end thereof. The overall arrangement is such that when the knob 254 is in the position illustrated in FIG. 12, the cam 268 will not be in engagement with the contacts of the switch 262 and the same will be in a normally open position as illustrated in FIG. 11. However, when the knob 254 is rotated in a clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 12, the spring motor 264 will be wound and the cam 268 will engage the one contact of the switch 262 to close the same to complete a circuit for purposes to be seen.

Such rotation of the knob 254 will also result in the pointer 252 engaging projection 242 on the staff 238 to rotate the flag'236 from the position shown in FIGS. 9 and 12. When the knob 254 is released, the energy stored in the spring motor 264 as a result of the rotation of the knob 254 will cause the knob 254 to begin to rotate at a low rate in a counterclockwise direction. As the pointer 252 approaches the stop lug 250, the same will engage the projection 244 on the flagstaff 238 to raise the checkered flag 236 signifying that a race of a given time period has been completed. At the same time, the cam 268 will be removed from engagement with the contacts of the switch 262 thereby breaking the circuit which may be used to deenergize the vehicle motor. The flag 236 may also be oriented manually so that the projection 242 will block the pointer 252 for continuous operation.

Turning now to FIGS. 13 and 14, the speed control 224 will be described. The same includes a generally tubular housing 270 sized and shaped that it may be easily grasped in one hand and the lower side of the same includes an eye 272 to which the tether 222 may be secured. Projecting upwardly through an opening 274 in the top of die housing is a control rod 276 mounting the actuator 230. Within the housing 270, the rod 276 mounts an electrical contact 278 and a spring 280 is interposed between the lower edge of the housing 270 and the contact 278 to normally bias the rod upwardly. The contact 278 is in engagement with a cylinder of electrically resistive material 282 mounted on a support rod 284 within the housing 270. Electrical conductors are fed into the housing 270 in any suitable manner with one being connected to the contact 278 and the other being connected to the lowermost end of the cylinder 282. As a result, a simple rheostat is formed with the amount of resistance provided thereby being controlled by the relative position of the rod 276 within the housing 270. Typically, when the manual actuator 230 is released, maximum resistance is provided while when fully depressed, minimum resistance is provided. Accordingly, the user of the device may control the resistance in a circuit by appropriately depressing or releasing the manual actuator 230 with the thumb. The rheostat thus formed is an electrical circuit with the motor for the vehicle and a power source so that vehicle speed may be controlled.

Turning now to FIGS. -19, the pylon 220 will be described. In particular, the same includes a base 300 connected to the tunnel 228 and which houses a plurality of batteries 302 to serve as an auxiliary source of power for the vehicle. The base 300 mounts an upright, cylindrical post 304 which in turn rotatably mounts at its upper end a horizontally extending arm 306. Near the upper end of the post 304 there are provided a pair of slip ring conductors 308 which are electrically engaged by a pair of brushes 310 mounted within the arm 306 and have conductors extending therefrom to the vehicle in a manner to be described in greater detail hereinafter.

The tunnel 228 at its point of entry into the base 300 includes an opening 312 through which the tether 222 freely passes. Near the lower end of the upright 304 there is provided another opening 314 and the tether 222 freely extends through the same to emerge from the upper end of the upright 304 to be passed along the arm 306 and emerge from an aperture 316 therein from which it freely passes for connection to the vehicle.

Thus, the radial position of the vehicle relative to the pylon 220 may be controlled by the speed control 224 in the following manner. When the vehicle is to travel closer to the pylon 220, the operator may simply pull on the speed control thereby causing the tether 222 to be drawn through the pylon 220, the tunnel 228 and the timer 226 to shorten the length of the same extending from the arm 306. When the vehicle is to travel at an increased radial distance from the pylon 222, the operator releases tension on the tether by moving the speed control 224 closer to the timer 226 whereby the centrifugal force applied to the vehicle will cause the same to move radially outwardly from the pylon, drawing the tether 222 along until tension is restored.

Also housed within the pylon 220 is a lap counter and to this end, the arm 306 is provided with a depending projection 320 which extends below the lowermost side of the arm 306 to actuate the lap counter each time the arm 306 is rotated through a complete revolution.

The lap counter basically comprises a housing portion 322 mounted on the base 300 and having an upper slot-like opening 324. Mounted within the housing 322 is a lap units wheel 326 having 10 pointed prongs 328 and 10 corresponding digits printed thereon. The rotatable mounting of the units wheel 326 is such that one of the prongs 328 extends through the slot 324 to a point where it may be engaged by the depending projection 320 on the arm 306 each time the arm 306 is rotated. The indicia are arranged on the wheel 326 so as to be visible through a rectangular opening 330 in the housing to indicate the units number of laps.

Additionally, there is provided a tens lap counter wheel 331 which includes peripherally extending prongs 332 to the extent of ten in number. The same additionally bears suitable indicia which may be visible through an opening 334 in the housing 322.

The wheel 331 is slightly displaced in the plane of the wheel 326 and is arranged such that a tens carry prong 336 on the latter will engage one of the prongs 332 each time the units wheel 326 has gone through a complete revolution.

To connect the batteries 302 within the base 300 to the vehicle, a male jack element 340 is provided which is electrically connected to the brushes 310. The jack 340 additionally mounts an insulating cup 342 of sufficient size so as to cover the nut 173 on the female jack 168 on the vehicle whereby the kick starter switch element 176 cannot make electrical contact therewith. As a result, the selfcontained source of power within the vehicle is effectively disconnected from the motor thereof while power may be applied from the external batteries 302 when the jack 340 is operatively associated with the female jack 168. The speed control 224 and the timer 226 may be electrically connected in series with the batteries 302 to ultimately provide control of the application of power to the vehicle from the batteries 302.

According to one embodiment, the tether and the electrical conductors extending from the speed control 224 to the vehicle may be one and the same if the female jack 168 is constructed to grasp the male jack with sufficient force that the vehicle cannot break the connection due to centrifugal force. If this construction is employed, a great deal of slackin one of the conductors must be provided to accommodate movement of the tether relative to the fixed switch 162 in the timer. Alternately, the tether and electrical conductors may be formed separately with the tether connected to the vehicle by means of an eye (not shown). In this case, both conductors should have a sufficiently longer length than the tether for essentially the same reason.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the invention provides two unique forms of two-wheeled vehicles for use as toys. According to one such embodiment, the extremely low center of gravity insures stability without the use of a third wheel or the like while according to the other embodiment, the extreme rearward location of the center of gravity permits the simulation of the typical motorcycle trick known as a wheelie. The tethering system enhances both vehicles in terms of the fact that it permits races to be run along with lap counting and timing from a speed and position control of the vehicle, etc.

We claim:

1. A toy vehicle system comprising:

a vehicle having an electric motor for driving the vehicle along a surface;

a pylon adapted to be mounted on the surface including a base having battery receiving means therein;

a tether connected to said vehicle at one end and passing freely through said pylon and adapted to be manipulated at the other end;

a control device secured to the manipulatable end of the tether adapted to be grasped by an operator of the system so that the radial position of the vehicle with respect to the pylon may be selectively altered by manipulating said device to control the effective length of the tether extending between the vehicle and pylon, said control device including means electrically connecting said battery receiving means to said electric motor and said control device and a selectively operable rheostat connected to said electrical connecting means to vary the speed of the vehicle; and

presettable timing means for setting the period of time during which said vehicle motor is running, said timing means including switch means connected between said electric motor and said battery receiving means a spring motor having a shaft, a cam on said shaft for engaging said switch means to operate the same, a knob on said shaft for winding the spring motor, a pivotally mounted flag engageable by said knob to raise said flag when the period of operation has terminated.

2. A toy vehicle system comprising:

a vehicle having an electric motor for driving the vehicle along a surface;

a pylon adapted to be mounted on the surface including a base having battery receiving means therein;

a tether connected to said vehicle at one end and passing freely through said pylon and adapted to be manipulated at the other end;

a control device secured to the manipulatable end of the tether adapted to be grasped by an operator of the system so that the radial position of the vehicle with respect to the pylon may be selectively altered by manipulating said device to control the effective length of the tether extending between the vehicle and pylon, said control device including means electrically connecting said battery receiving means to said electric motor and said control device and a selectively operable rheostat connected to said electrical connecting means to vary the speed of the vehicle;

presettable timing means for setting the period of time during which said vehicle motor is running,

said timing means including switch means connected between said electric motor and said battery receiving means; and a lap counter-indicator mounted on said pylon for counting the number of times the vehicle travels completely about said pylon. 3. A toy vehicle system comprising: a vehicle having motive means for driving the vehicle along a playing surface; a pylon adapted to be mounted on the surface including a base; a tether line connected to said vehicle at one end and movably associated with respect to said pylon for manipulation by an operator of the system so that the radial position of the vehicle with respect to the pylon may be selectively altered by manipulating said tether line to control the effective length of the tether line extending between the vehicle and the pylon; i a control device operably connected to the tether line and adapted to be grasped by an operator of the system, said control device including speed control means to vary the speed of the vehicle; and

motor is running. 

1. A toy vehicle system comprising: a vehicle having an electric motor for driving the vehicle along a surface; a pylon adapted to be mounted on the surface including a base having battery receiving means therein; a tether connected to said vehicle at one end and passing freely through said pylon and adapted to be manipulated at the other end; a control device secured to the manipulatable end of the tether adapted to be grasped by an operator of the system so that the radial position of the vehicle with respect to the pylon may be selectively altered by manipulating said device to control the effective length of the tether extending between the vehicle and pylon, said control device including means electrically connecting said battery receiving means to said electric motor and said control device and a selectivelY operable rheostat connected to said electrical connecting means to vary the speed of the vehicle; and presettable timing means for setting the period of time during which said vehicle motor is running, said timing means including switch means connected between said electric motor and said battery receiving means a spring motor having a shaft, a cam on said shaft for engaging said switch means to operate the same, a knob on said shaft for winding the spring motor, a pivotally mounted flag engageable by said knob to raise said flag when the period of operation has terminated.
 2. A toy vehicle system comprising: a vehicle having an electric motor for driving the vehicle along a surface; a pylon adapted to be mounted on the surface including a base having battery receiving means therein; a tether connected to said vehicle at one end and passing freely through said pylon and adapted to be manipulated at the other end; a control device secured to the manipulatable end of the tether adapted to be grasped by an operator of the system so that the radial position of the vehicle with respect to the pylon may be selectively altered by manipulating said device to control the effective length of the tether extending between the vehicle and pylon, said control device including means electrically connecting said battery receiving means to said electric motor and said control device and a selectively operable rheostat connected to said electrical connecting means to vary the speed of the vehicle; presettable timing means for setting the period of time during which said vehicle motor is running, said timing means including switch means connected between said electric motor and said battery receiving means; and a lap counter-indicator mounted on said pylon for counting the number of times the vehicle travels completely about said pylon.
 3. A toy vehicle system comprising: a vehicle having motive means for driving the vehicle along a playing surface; a pylon adapted to be mounted on the surface including a base; a tether line connected to said vehicle at one end and movably associated with respect to said pylon for manipulation by an operator of the system so that the radial position of the vehicle with respect to the pylon may be selectively altered by manipulating said tether line to control the effective length of the tether line extending between the vehicle and the pylon; a control device operably connected to the tether line and adapted to be grasped by an operator of the system, said control device including speed control means to vary the speed of the vehicle; and means connecting said control device with said motive means including presettable timing means for setting a period of time during which said vehicle motor is running. 